Diversified gaming and sports media company Nazara Technologies is teaming up with Mixi Global Investments, the venture capital arm of Japanese entertainment giant Mixi, and early-stage venture capital firm ChimeraVC to launch a gaming incubator, LVL Zero, in India.
The incubator will provide targeted mentorship to startups and help them achieve investor and publisher readiness in 100 days. It will also offer equity-free grants from a pool of $100,000 and aims to support more than 100 high-performing startups over the next five years.
“At Nazara, we have always believed that India’s gaming story will be written by its startups. With LVL Zero, we are helping turn ambition into execution. This collaboration allows us to bring publishing experience, analytics insights, and go-to-market knowledge directly to developers who are ready to take the next leap," Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain said.
The move comes as the government seeks to promote online social games in the country through the recently introduced law.
Nazara Technologies, one of the country’s oldest gaming firms, operates a game publishing unit called Nazara Publishing, which releases games created by Indian developers globally and partners with international developers to localise and bring their titles to India.
Mixi Global Investments is a $50-million corporate VC fund that seeks to back early-stage startups in the digital entertainment and consumer services sector in the country.
"Through LVL Zero, we aim not only to invest but also to contribute to the country’s broader ecosystem—supporting emerging talent to grow and building a lasting bridge between Japan and India’s gaming industries,” said Tomoharu Urabe, managing director of investments at Mixi Global Investments.
Krish Anurag, managing partner at Chimera VC, said "With Chimera, we’ve always worked with founders at Level 1 - the seed stage where conviction meets capital. LVL Zero allows us to start even earlier, at the stage where belief forms before traction and ideas are still taking shape."
ChimeraVC launched a $10-million gaming-focused fund targeting India and Asia in June 2025. It focuses on early-stage gaming, tools and infrastructure startups.
What will LVL Zero offer?
LVL Zero is designed to help gaming startups move from concept to investor and publisher readiness within 100 days through a structured mentorship programme.
LVL Zero said it will select 10 startups in each cohort which will begin with identifying their biggest challenges and goals. These startups would then be matched with mentors suited to specific challenges, whether in game design, development, analytics, user acquisition, monetisation, live operations (live-ops) or business strategy.
Selected startups will also receive an equity-free grant of $10,000 each, along with tools, platforms, and growth infrastructure provided by partners, the incubator said.
LVL Zero will further connect game developers with publishers, investors, and ecosystem partners to help them access distribution and funding opportunities.
Gaming incubators in India
Krafton, the South Korean gaming giant behind the battle royale hit Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), also operates an India-focused gaming incubator, the Krafton India Gaming Incubator (KIGI).
Launched in October 2023, the incubator provides developers with mentorship from industry experts in game development, design, marketing, and business strategy over 6–12 months, along with financial assistance of up to $150,000 to help develop their games.
So far, the company has selected 10 studios from cities including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Madurai across two cohorts. It is accepting applications for the third cohort.
In June, Facebook parent Meta launched an incubator for emerging game developers and studios in India called the Meta Gaming Accelerator. The initiative was launched in partnership with Bitkraft Ventures, Elevation Capital, Kalaari Capital and Lumikai Fund.
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